LETTER TO THE POLITBUREAU OF THE R.C.P.(B.) C.C. WITH REMARKS ON THE THESES OF THE PEOPLE’S COMMISSAR FOR FINANCE

Published:First published in 1942 inLenin Miscellany XXXIV.

      Printed from the original.Source:Lenin
	  Collected Works,

      Progress Publishers,1976,

      Moscow,Volume 45,

      page495.Translated:Yuri SdobnikovTranscription\Markup:R. CymbalaPublic Domain:Lenin Internet ArchiveYou may freely copy, distribute,
	display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and
	commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet
	Archive” as your source.•README

To Comrade Molotov for the Politbureau members

March 3, 1922

Sokolnikov’stheses (“Basic Provisions of the Financial
Programme”) are, I think, not bad, but on the theoretical side.

Iam making a special study of one point (beginning of
§ 12) and shall write about it separately.

Forthe rest, I propose: submit for opinion to the State
Planning Commission, Preobrazhensky and Krasnoshchekov.
Then print with cuts (for the time beingthrow out the point
on substituting the cash tax for the tax in kind, etc.).

Now,on the substance of the matter. I think these two
things are pivotal:

1)howto find fierce and clever men forharassingall
the People’s Commissariats (plus the Moscow, plus the
Petrograd Soviets): reduce staffs in practice and severely;

2)howto teach our bureaucratic “torgs” (including the
People’s Commissariat for Foreign Trade, Mostorg,
Petrotorg, etc., etc.) to trade instead of engaging in red tape.

Perhapswe should authorise the All-Russia C.E.C.
Presidium to adopt this decision:

AllPeople’s Commissariats plus the Moscow and
Petrograd Soviets shall have the duty to submit within a week
a draft decision transferring their staffs (all who are
connected with economics) to percentage payments from
turnover and from profits, with fierce penalties for losses,
flabbiness and bungling, and with the obligation to reply
to commercial inquiries within 3–6 hours, under penalty
of prison terms of not less than 5 years.

Forthe best draft decision—a prize of 100,000 gold
rubles, to be paid after a year’ssuccessfultrial of the
decision, so that payment isproportional to the success(100%
success == 100% prize, 1% success == 1% prize).